Judge angered over sale of Durst photos

[TexasStooge]

(Court TV) — As lawyers involved in the murder trial of millionaire Robert Durst worked on their closing arguments Friday, the judge in the bizarre self-defense case was trying to figure out who sold nearly 1,000 digital photographs to a Houston television station.

KHOU-TV's Channel 11 News began broadcasting some of the photographs it obtained from an undisclosed source Wednesday night. Some of the images, including one of Durst when he was arrested Oct. 9, 2001, in connection with the death and dismemberment of a neighbor in Galveston, Texas, were posted on the station's Web site.

Durst, 60, whose family built and owns skyscrapers in Manhattan, testified that 71-year-old Morris Black died during a struggle for Durst's gun in Durst's apartment.

"I'm not mad at a TV station or a news organization for getting a scoop," Judge Susan Criss, who is presiding over Durst's trial and had excluded the photos from the trial, told Courttv.com on Friday. "Somebody here sold evidence. That concerns me."

After Durst's lawyers and prosecutors assured her that they were not the source of the photos, Criss told reporters Thursday that someone committed a crime, contempt of court or both by selling the photographs. KHOU told viewers that the station paid a "nominal fee" for the images.

Among the photos were one of Durst in a Cub Scout uniform as a child. Others were of Durst's apartment, car and items that were admitted as evidence during the six-week trial.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers will be in Criss's courtroom again Monday to begin hashing out the judge's instructions on the law for jurors. Following a reading of the instructions on Wednesday, lawyers will deliver closing arguments.

The prosecution contends that Durst shot Black, dismembered the body and disposed of it in Galveston Bay. An attempt to erase any evidence that Durst or Black ever lived in adjoining apartments failed, and police followed a trail of carelessly discarded clues to the eccentric millionaire.

The defense has argued that there is no evidence to contradict Durst's claim that Black's death was an accident. Lawyers for Durst say that anything that happened after the death — including the dismemberment and Durst's short-lived run from prosecution using Black's driver's license — is immaterial to the murder charge.

Durst testified that he was living in Galveston as a mute woman because he feared that he was about to be indicted in New York in connection with the 1982 disappearance of his first wife. Kathleen Durst's fate is not known, but investigators believe the 29-year-old medical school student was murdered.

The defense did not move for a mistrial following the publication of the photos by the television station. Criss reminded jurors Thursday that they risk contempt of court if they watch or read news accounts of the case.

"I reminded them how important it is and how serious I am," the judge said.